Quilting For The Elders

At the annual rug show last November, quilts played an important role, all be it one that was mostly behind the scenes. Masuda Medcalf helped organized the effort to make over forty quilts that were presented to Elders and weavers at the Thursday afternoon "quilt party".

An avid quilter, Masuda, frequents a local quilting shop known as Elaine's Quilt Block, The owner, Marilyn Cowan, became aware of this project and suggested that making quilts for our Elders could be the focus of her shop's charitable project for 2011. Every year Marilyn chooses a charity and makes the materials needed to produce a full-sized quilt available at no charge to quilters who are willing to make a quilt to be donated to the selected charity.

The following flyer was produced by Marilyn to provide quilters with specific details:

Below is the display at Elaine's featuring the project:

 

To date over 30 quilters have volunteered their time for this charitable effort and many have already returned their quilts. Although the process of picking up a kit and delivering the finished quilt is easiest for local quilters, Marilyn is willing to provide kits to out-of-town quilters as long as they pay the shipping costs.

Recently Linda had a chance to join with Marilyn for lunch and then tour the quilt shop. To their mutual surprise, it turns out that they were neighbors and friends during their junior high school years here in Salt Lake. They had lost track of one another so this became a happy reunion.

The last photo shows Linda and Marilyn holding one of the first quilts to be returned.

 

Marilyn says that quilters are generous by nature and that participating in a project like this is stimulating to their creativity.

If you would like to participate or have further questions, visit Elaine's Quilt Block web site for contact information.